Supervisors/Department Heads

Implementing the Bravo Award Program isn’t designed to be an arduous process. Tools and guidelines have been developed to support you throughout implementation and administration. Bravo provides you the opportunity to reward excellence and encourage employees to do their best and go beyond what's normally expected

After you make the decision to adopt the Bravo Program for your college/unit, you will need to decide who within your organization will be designated as the “Approving Official”. The approving official is generally the individual, or committee, that has authority to design and administer your college/unit’s Bravo Award Program, including the approval, denial or revision of Bravo Award nominations, management and oversight of the program budget, and adoption of the rules and procedures outlined in the program summary.

Approving Officials – Action Steps
As your college/unit’s approving official, you have the authority to design and administer the Bravo Award Program, including the approval, denial or revision of Bravo Award nominations, management and oversight of the program budget, and adoption of the rules and procedures outlined in the program summary. Your first step is to review the Implementation Guidelines. These guidelines will provide you helpful tools and guidance to implement and administer the Bravo Award Program.

The Implementation Guidelines contain a link to the Program Summary that establishes your college/unit’s guidelines for determining award amounts and defines your nomination/approval process. Each college/unit that adopts the Bravo Award Program will need to complete the Program Summary and submit an executed copy to HR/Compensation prior to implementing the program.

Clearly communicate program guidelines and objectives. A suggested Communication Kit has been developed to assist colleges/units with employee communications. The kit contains:

A sample memorandum to introduce the Bravo Award Program to your college/unit;

A PowerPoint presentation that can be delivered at a staff meeting (if you would find it beneficial, HR/Compensation can provide assistance in delivering this presentation – please email bravo@purdue.edu to request help).

The Bravo Award is supported by college/unit operating funds. To ensure all eligible faculty and staff have an opportunity to be rewarded for exceptional performance, all units are encouraged to participate in this award program. To ensure the sustainability of a unit’s ability to provide awards on an ongoing basis, award frequency and amounts must be determined thoughtfully.

Management should consider the impact of the contribution, the amount of sustained effort required, and the degree to which the individual or team exceeded the expectations for the task or activity. The process used by each college/unit should allow for recognition in ways that are meaningful, fair, and clearly distinguish levels of performance. Please contact bravo@purdue.edu for assistance.

Each college/unit will be able to designate who can approve award nominations. You may have a single individual designated to approve the nominations or a committee may be established. Each adopting college/unit must document their approval process in their program summary document.

Colleges/units are required to adopt a program summary document, monitor their limits and maintain a record of all nominations received. HR/Compensation has developed all the tools needed to administer the program.

Yes. Bravo awards are subject to applicable tax withholdings and W-2 reporting. The recipient’s paycheck will reflect their regular compensation plus the additional Bravo compensation less applicable taxes – this is consistent with how the Special Merit Pay Program was administered.

Operational Excellence: Extraordinary effort during times of critical department need (e.g., contribution that clearly and significantly exceeds standard job requirements and impacts the accomplishment of important and critical business operational goals and deliverables);

Innovation/Creativity: Innovative work or suggestions, well beyond standard job requirements, that significantly improve operational efficiencies, introduce a new or modified business practice or improve work process, workflow or customer service;